Return — Peter S. Beagle

In Return, master fantasist Peter S. Beagle revisits the world of his extraordinary 1991 novel, The Innkeeper's Song. The result is an utterly compelling novella filled with its author's inimitable -- and characteristic -- magic.

The story begins when Soukyan, narrator and hero, fends off an attack by a trio of Hunters, trained assassins who have tracked him relentlessly for many years. But something about this latest attack is different, and that difference sends Soukyan on an unexpected journey to the source of his most painful memories. In the course of that journey, he encounters some of the central figures from his troubled past and comes face-to-face with a mystery that is both astonishing and lethal.

Return offers a generous helping of the pure narrative pleasure that Peter Beagle's readers have come to expect. Swift, effortlessly witty, and written, always, with intelligence, grace, and more than a touch of wizardry, it is the work of a consummate storyteller with a unique voice and a wholly original vision of the world.